Green tiles and vermilion pillars, red gates with beast-ring knockers.
Above the entrance hung a plaque bearing two characters: "Ji Mansion."
The long street lay empty. A gust of yin wind blew several withered leaves from who knew where, sending them spiraling down like paper money at a funeral.
Pei Ling strode up to the gates of Ji Mansion.
Under the system's control, he kicked the doors open and walked straight inside.
"Clatter..."
The moment Pei Ling entered, a light drizzle suddenly began to fall over all of Lanke City.
Inside stood a screen wall symbolizing wealth and good fortune, decorated with cranes and deer welcoming spring. Peonies wound around its four corners, interlaced with gourds and bats. Several pieces of colored glass were set into it, refracting brilliant hues beneath the rain and lending it an even more sumptuous air.
Beyond the screen wall lay a courtyard with several large water jars.
At that moment, fine threads of rain fell into the jars, sending ripples spreading across the water.
At the far end of the courtyard stood a Flower-Decorated Gate. Trumpet vines grew thickly on either side, and the slanting rain knocked countless orange-red blossoms to the ground.
Behind the half-closed gate, a steady "thump, thump, thump" sounded.
Pei Ling's heart grew heavy. This was the Ji Family!
The female corpse he had brought back from Penglai Temple had been named Ji Shuang'er. In life, she had been the legitimate daughter of this household!
Could the "strangeness" in Lanke City have something to do with Ji Shuang'er?
That had to be it!
The Dao Companion the system had detected was most likely Ji Shuang'er!
As he was thinking this, he had already stepped through the Flower-Decorated Gate. At the same moment, a deafening boom suddenly rang out overhead.
Rumble—